Wallis Sands State Beach is a public recreation area located on the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

in the town of

Rye Rye (''Secale cereale'') is a grass grown extensively as a grain, a cover crop and a forage crop. It is a member of the wheat tribe (Triticeae) and is closely related to both wheat (''Triticum'') and barley (genus ''Hordeum''). Rye grain is u ...

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

. The

state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural ...

offers a sandy beach with bathhouse, picnicking, and 500-car pay-parking lot.

History

; Coastal station During the 19th century and early 20th century, Wallis Sands was a Life-Saving Station of the

United States Life-Saving Service The United States Life-Saving ServiceDespite the lack of hyphen in its insignia, the agency itself is hyphenated in government documents including: and was a United States government agency that grew out of private and local humanitarian effort ...

and subsequently was a station of the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

. The station was discontinued around 1938. ; State park The first parcel of the future state park, about one acre in size, was purchased by the state in 1901. That fragment was used as a wayside park in the 1950s. Following expansion of its footprint to and the construction of jetties to protect an enlarged beach area, Wallis Sands State Park was opened to the public in June 1964. ; Jellyfish incident In July 2010, nearly 150 beachgoers and swimmers were stung here on the same day by a

lion's mane jellyfish The lion's mane jellyfish (''Cyanea capillata''), also known as the giant jellyfish, arctic red jellyfish, or the hair jelly, is one of the largest known species of jellyfish. Its range is confined to cold, boreal waters of the Arctic, northern ...

. Most were treated on site with vinegar, and several children were taken to a hospital. A lifeguard had pitchforked a jellyfish – whose longest tentacle was – to try to drag it ashore and dispose of it; however, the dead jellyfish broke apart, releasing its

nematocyst A cnidocyte (also known as a cnidoblast or nematocyte) is an explosive cell containing one large secretory organelle called a cnidocyst (also known as a cnida () or nematocyst) that can deliver a sting to other organisms. The presence of this ce ...

s on the beach and stinging the crowd in the span of about 20 minutes.

References

External links

Wallis Sands State Beach
New Hampshire Department of Natural and Cultural Resources {{authority control State parks of New Hampshire Parks in Rockingham County, New Hampshire Rye, New Hampshire Beaches of New Hampshire